


From a Shadowed Perch

by orphan_account



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: M/M, Red Hood!Jason, Talon!Dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 11:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8444440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Not quite a request, but it's not *not* one. The Red Hood is working on establishing himself in Gotham when he runs into one of the key players in that field. Does the court approve or not?





	

It's a simple job. Get in, get information, kill all but one who can tell the tale, confiscate the drugs, get out. He's done it numerous times before. It's all part of the plan, part of getting Batman's attention. 

Jason is getting used to this. It's becoming almost comfortable. He isn't sure how to feel about that. 

It's what the city needs, though, and someone should give it that. 

It goes well all throughout the info gathering and fighting. It's the killing part that he stumbles over in this particular instance. One of the guys that come at him from behind lands a lucky hit, and Jason has to rework the plan if he is to get out alive. A deep cut in his shoulder leaves his left arm almost unable to move. 

He can fight one handed, but he wasn't counting on the reinforcements. The buyers arrive too early, with more guns and more people. He has to get out of here. He has to-

Everything stops very suddenly. The depths of the warehouse echo with haunting laughter, making everyone in it freeze up. The men closest to Jason stare at him, horrified. They must think it's someone that came with him. 

It's not, but Jason recognises that voice. He's heard it only once before, a long time ago, but he knows it. He may never be able to forget it. 

Now he really has to get out. He wastes no time on warning anyone - he can't save them, and that wasn't the plan in the first place. He turns and runs towards the door, skipping over boxes and dodging hits. Behind him, he can hear them screaming in pain coupled with sickening tearing and slashing sounds. 

There's no way he's after the drug dealers. Small fry doesn't matter to the court. He's there for Jason, and Jason doesn't plan to find out why. Anger and confidence in his skill aside, he is not ready to take in the court. Not yet.

He almost makes it to the door, but when did things ever go his way? Hands grasp his shoulders and the pain from his earlier cut is almost shocking to him. He jerks, too hurt to react properly. In a moment he's been shoved roughly against a wall, groaning out loud with the pain. He opens his eyes and comes face to face with what at first looks like a shadow. 

Talon looks every bit the spectre he is rumoured to be. A thin, defined face and lithe body covered in kevlar and sharp things. His skin looks pale and taut, eyes an eerie lifeless yellow. 

Thick goggles rest over his forehead and a black cowl covers everything from the nose down. This leaves Jason with nothing to look at but unnatural pale irises. His hands are still on Jason's shoulders, gripping him painfully tight. 

Jason knows the feeling of staring death in the face, and the pit in his stomach feels uncomfortably familiar. He swallows hard, to the point where he can almost hear it rattling inside his helmet. Talon crowds his personal space, making Jason press his head backwards into the wall to avoid him. His eyes crinkle, and Jason realises with a jolt that he is smiling.

"You're the new blood," he says. His voice is strangely layered, rattling in his throat, and he tastes every word out of his mouth. 

It's not a question. Not that Jason would know what to answer. His mind reels with the possibilities of how he could get out of this hold, but none of them would work. It would be foolish to try.

He remembers the first time he and Bruce encountered the court. A murder case. A man cut a thousand times to bleed him slowly. One of the most painful deaths a person can endure.

There's nothing human about the court. Why would their servant be? 

"I don't know what you're after yet, little one, but that doesn’t matter." Talon looks him up and down. He shoves Jason again, placing one forearm across his shoulders to keep him there. Jason jerks and stops himself from fighting back. If he's not dead yet, that might not be the plan. He can work with that.

He changes his mind when Talon's other hand clamps down on the back of his neck. There's a faint hiss as he presses the release. Jason's helmet slides off as easily as nothing and clatters on the ground beside them. 

Talon looks deeply into the whites of Jason's domino mask. He leans impossibly closer and  _ sniffs  _ at Jason’s neck. 

“You’re not alive,” he says slowly. “Not really.”

Jason’s jaw clamps shut, grinding his teeth together. A hot surge of anger urges him to reach for Talon’s neck. He reins it in and remains rigidly still. 

“I hear you’re not doing so hot in that department either.”

It’s snarky, arrogant, and his tone alone will probably get his head mounted on one of the Wayne Tower gargoyles, but Jason doesn’t take anything lying down. Talon’s eyes light up, making him look impossibly creepier. 

“You’re scared.” He sounds delighted. “You  _ know. _ ”

“Look, pal.” Jason’s teeth grind again as Talon’s fingers dig into his wound. “I’m not with the bat. Fuck off.”

“The bat.” Talon says it quietly, almost to himself. “No, you’re not with him. But you’re not alone, are you?”

Jason hisses. He leans forward, and Talon actually rears back a little bit. Jason isn’t sure what his expression looks like right now, but it apparently makes an impact.  

“You’re not with him, but you’re after him,” Talon says. He seems satisfied with this conclusion. 

He leans back a little more and pulls with one hand at his cowl. His whole face comes into view in the dim fluorescent lighting. His cheeks are almost hollow, his jaw frighteningly defined under his skin. 

He looks like a corpse, Jason realises suddenly. A horrible thought occurs to him then. He wonders very briefly, before he squashes it back down, if he ever looked like that back when he was newly resurrected. He knows that it was bad, but Talon doesn’t look like there’s still a person in there. 

“You know who I am,” Talon says casually, as though rattling off a list. “You know to be afraid.” His eyes linger on Jason’s limp arms. “So I ask you what the court wants to know. Do you know your place?”

What does that even mean?

“What if I don’t?” Jason asks, because no one ever called him smart. He’s intelligent, not smart. There’s a difference.

Talon smirks. 

“I like you, little bird. My superiors are unsure whether or not they do.” 

He leans in back in, ignoring the way Jason’s face goes completely blank. When he speaks again, it’s in a hushed whisper. 

“Don’t mess up,” he says, as though that will be specific enough. 

He then presses his lips hard to Jason’s. 

Jason does not know how to react to this. Talon gives him no leeway, biting into his bottom lip until he can taste blood in his mouth. Jason has no time to react before he’s leaning back and licking his lips. He grins, and it doesn’t reach his eyes.

He disappears so quickly he might as well be smoke. Jason is left alone, leaning against a wall that digs into his shoulder and blinking in shock. He turns his head to look around at the carnage inside, and his neck twinges as he does it. Surprised, he reaches up and pulls off his glove to feel it. His hand comes back with blood on his fingers. 

Horrified, he pulls a jagged knife from the depths of his jacket and checks the damage in the reflection of it. He is not badly hurt. Just a knick at the bottom of his neck. Not an attempt at his life. A warning. 

He intends to heed it, as soon as he figures out what it means. 

Worried, scared, and feeling a little awkward, he leaves the warehouse with no effort to clean up the mess within. It won’t be the first time there’s an unsolved murder in Gotham. 


End file.
